heat problems in 95 Dodge Spirit

Started out with no heat and temp guage reading hot. Thought it wa
thermostat and had hubby change it.

I had heat for a short time, about 50 miles, then it again quit.
Blowing cold air and temp guage reading hot.

Took it into the garage as they said it needed the air bled out. H
siad the sensor to the fan was not working right and unplugged it.
Told me this would keep the fan running constantly, and it wouldn'
overheat anymore.

Drove it 18 miles and the guage again went to hot and no heat. The
guage would drop to normal for a few seconds and I would have heat. A
the guage bounced, my heat bounced back and forth from cold air to ho
air.

Did I get a bum thermostat or is there something more going on? M
husband isn't a mechanic by any means, and I felt like my mechanic wa
just placating me because I am a woman.

Mechanic didn't do a whole lot of looking, but said head looked fine
no leaks in system

 

How would a thermostat cause this? A thermostat stuck open would also
make it read cold; a thermostat stuck closed would also give you lots
of heat.

Find a new mechanic. This one has no business being anywhere near a
car, let alone charging money. You don't fix a problem by breaking
something else.

I can think of several things....

When you can find a real mechanic, have the system pressure tested and
have a compression test run on the head. First guess is the system
isn't holding pressure, either because of a head gasket leak or a leak
someplace else. If it doesn't hold pressure then it doesn't pull heat
away from the engine properly and you've got nothing but steam in the
heater core. Did your husband notice the coolant level before he did
the thermostat swap?

Might be a bad water pump. Water not circulating properly also leads
to not pulling heat away from the engine, and cold water in the heater
core.

Might be a blockage; same reasoning as the second guess. Except the
blockage would have to be someplace that would affect both the path
through the radiator and the path through the heater core so it
doesn't seem as likely.

 

Was the system filled to the proper level when hubby checked it?

If this is a 4 cyl, the chances of a stopped up heater core will cause both
of these problems. Your husband needs to feel the hose going into the
firewall and the other one coming out, they should both be almost the same
temp (hot). If one is cold and the other is hot the heater core is stopped
up.

If you unplug the sensor, all you are doing is putting the engine controller
in a default mode which will now cause a driveablity problem (running bad)
and the fan running all the time. Not a good idea to do this... Find someone
who knows how to work on your vehicle.
If the head gasket is leaking causing compression from the engine to enter
the cooling system it will also cause this problem but you will notice that
the coolant level is always going low and never seeing a leak......its going
out the tailpipe, A cylinder leakage test will have to be done to check this

The fact that the gauge flucuates from hot to cold tells me the core is
stopped up or head gasket bad

Im going to agree that the mechanic did absolutely nothing
Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

I am going through the same thing with my 1990 Spirit. All indications
are pointing to a failed headgasket. There appears to be an exhaust
leak near where the temp gauge sensor is located. Gauge is reading
high, while top radiator hose is cool. Sensor on thermostat housing not
turning on fan. No coolant in oil, and coolant in recovery tank is
remaining at a fairly constant level. Shop says that exhaust presence
in coolant is reading *49.* Not sure what that means, but they say it
is above normal.

It's frustrating because the gasket was changed in 2003/15,000 miles
ago. As far as I know, the shop followed the correct procedures by
resurfacing the head, using new headbolts, proper torquing, etc.

They have since sold their shop/land, so I know they can't be any help
to me. Looks like the end of the road for this vehicle.

-KM

 

Why not post what engine this vehicle has?????
Are the hoses hot going in and hot coming out??????

Glenn